Letters to the Editor

It is really sad that there are so many dumb people writing stupid things in our newspapers trying to influence other stupid people who cannot think for themselves (Letter From the Editor, November 1st issue). FEMA is one of the most corrupt, wasteful organizations ever conceived. After Katrina, FEMA, after first not responding at all, paid $100,000 each for trailers worth $6,000 to $8,000 from disreputable dealers with inside government deals. All the while, thousands of affordable trailers sat unpurchased throughout Mississippi and Louisiana.

Uninformed people like Bruce VanWyngarden who try to promote the liberal agenda instead of telling people the truth are the very reason this country is in the shape it is. We already have a president who lies daily. We don't need writers to make it worse.

Nick HowardMemphis

It took a super storm to bring the president and the governor of New Jersey together. We can only hope and pray that their example will wake up those in Washington and elsewhere in America to the fact that we are the United States.

Some in government, and some who want to be in government, seem to want to copy ancient Greece, where individual city states fell to Rome, which was united. It is now time for the people to let their elected officials know this and begin to work together for the betterment of our nation. Pass a jobs bill. Invest in jobs that rebuild our failing infrastructure. And since congressmen like to take trips, I suggest they visit the Netherlands and take notes on how they protect themselves against North Sea storms. We need Congress to stop trying to kill the president's plans on renewable energy. We need them to stop denying science and the facts.

So many Republicans believe government cannot do anything right. Well, that's true — when they are in power. Remember Hurricane Katrina? That will not be repeated under this president. American taxpayers will not be buying thousands of useless trailers that sat unused and rotted. Mitt Romney said he wants private companies to replace FEMA. I wonder how ServiceMaster would handle the aftermath of Sandy?

Jack BishopMemphis

A Repeat Election?

Will this election be a replay of 2000, when Republicans stole the presidential election by gaming the Electoral College and having the Republican Supreme Court majority install George W. Bush, the loser of the popular vote, as president?

In 2012, in 20 states, where the Republicans hold majorities in the legislatures, they have passed voter ID laws whose only purpose is to suppess minority, elderly, and student voters, who predominantly vote for Democratic candidates.

The GOP backup plan is to send thousands of "True The Vote" poll watchers into minority voting precincts, claiming there is voter fraud present. Their own Republican president, George W. Bush, carried out a five-year investigation into voter fraud and found only 86 cases over a 10-year period. Voter fraud is essentially nonexistent in America. True The Vote's real mission in this election is to screw the vote — to cause confusion, harass and intimidate voters, and disrupt the voting process.
Cal GravesLittle Rock, Arkansas

Pancreatic Cancer

It is unacceptable in this day and age that there is a cancer for which the relative percentage for a five-year survival rate is still in the single digits. It is particularly unacceptable when you consider that the overall five-year relative survival for all cancers is now 67 percent.

Additionally, overall cancer incidence and death rates are declining, while the incidence and death rates for pancreatic cancer are increasing. Pancreatic cancer is anticipated to move from the fourth to the second leading cause of cancer death, possibly as early 2015. This year alone, this terrible disease will claim the lives of 790 people in Tennessee.

I am a volunteer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in Memphis and am introducing an awareness proclamation that recognizes November as National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in Shelby County. I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer last year, when he was just 59. The proclamation will raise awareness about this devastating disease and encourage elected officials to make fighting pancreatic cancer a priority.